States crack down on disability parking fraud

From USA Today:

A growing number of states and cities are cracking down on handicap parking scofflaws with stiffer fines and placards that are less susceptible to fraudulent use.

In South Carolina, a law went into effect Jan. 1 requiring a photo of the disabled person be put on the placard (pictured) that is hung on the rearview mirror, according to Department of Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Beth Parks. New laws also have gone into effect this year in California and North Carolina.

The South Carolina law says handicap placards can be used only when the person they were issued to is driving the vehicle or is a passenger. Also, only one placard will be issued to each qualified person, Park says.

Changes are needed, says Maureen Birdsall, 45, a San Francisco-area woman who was so angry about the difficulty she faced trying to park with her severely handicapped grandfather in 2007, that she set up a website for people to report offenders.

Handicappedfraud.org, her website, has approximately 10,000 users sending in tips that she sorts and sends to DMV officials, she said.

"It is just horrible to be in a situation where you actually can't go in somewhere because you don't have a way to park," she said.

She recommends people not confront those they think are abusing the system, noting that some people have "hidden" disabilities.

Bill Freeman, president of the American Disability Association, said the new laws are more a response to the anger against abusers who tie up scarce parking spaces than a sign of greater national empathy for the disabled.

Elsewhere:

• North Carolina. New handicap parking placards will have expiration dates printed so large that they can be read from 20 feet away, under a law that went into effect Jan. 1, state DMV spokeswoman Marge Howell said.

• California. A law that went into effect Jan. 1 gives cities the authority to increase fines for handicap parking violations up to $1,000 and to allow parking-control officers to issue tickets, according to state Assembly Majority Whip Fiona Ma. Previously, only law enforcement officers could give such tickets, she said.

Ma, a Democrat who authored the bill, said San Francisco increased its maximum fine from $100 to $750.

If you go for a pizza, "and you come back, and you've got a ticket for $750, I think you'll think twice about doing that again," she said.

• Connecticut. Last month, Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell called for a widespread crackdown on offenders that would include a media campaign to heighten awareness, technological improvements to make it easier to verify valid permits and window stickers instead of hanging placards.